AS AN impressionable teenager, Catherine Barolo dreamed of moving to Melbourne and “making it big”.
However, reality was much farther away from the Adelaide-born woman’s dream when she moved here at the age of 17.
“I thought I’d make it big with about $15 in my hand but I woke up the next morning and found myself with no money, no food and living in the squats in St Kilda,” Mrs Barolo said.
The young woman had a flair for fashion and design but, after falling pregnant at 19, she moved back to Adelaide and struggled to find a job in her chosen field with her lack of experience.
Almost 10 years later she moved back to Melbourne with her now-husband Greg and settled into married life raising her son Spencer and three young children with Mr Barolo - - Joshua, Sebastian and Paris.
“When Sebastian was nine months old I started looking for a T-shirt bra and there was nothing around; I couldn’t believe it,” Mrs Barolo said.
The artistic Oakleigh resident put her sewing skills to work and developed her own maternity T-shirt bra.
A few years later, her persuasive skills paid off and, by 2004, Didge Designs maternity bras were flying out the door at Big W and Best and Less stores around Australia and New Zealand and internationally through her website.
“I hope I can inspire someone else because, being a single mum at 19, I was told ‘you’re never going to be anything more’ and that was pretty derogatory,” she said.
“But anything is possible; you just have to try.”
The three-time Telstra business award finalist has now taken her dream to the next step - - she recently opened her own maternity lingerie store in Huntingdale Rd, Oakleigh East.
Infused with her vintage style, Mrs Barolo said she handmade every item in her store and was now looking for a manufacturer to increase productivity and reach her ultimate goal of franchising the label worldwide.
“I believe that everything will come to you if you want it,” she said.
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